The death of Mayor Harold Washington

On the day of Mayor Harold Washington's funeral, in early December 1987, high school students salute the late mayor as the hearse carrying his casket passes by.

On the day of Mayor Harold Washington's funeral, in early December 1987, high school students salute the late mayor as the hearse carrying his casket passes by. (Tribune photo by Anne Cusack)

Robert DavisChicago Tribune

By the final months of 1987, Mayor Harold Washington was finally having things his own way. Elected to a second term earlier in the year in a campaign devoid of much of the racial heat that marked the 1983 contest, Washington had a majority of the city's 50 aldermen working with him. He was a Democratic political power, helping forge election tickets and exerting influence over careers. A racially divided city seemed to be accepting the reality of a black mayor.

Sitting in his fifth-floor office in City Hall on this morning, talking to a press aide, he suddenly slumped over, his face resting on the desktop. He had suffered a heart attack. Although he was rushed to a hospital emergency room, it was clear to all that Washington was dead. In the days that followed, the city came together as it never really had when he was alive. Thousands lined the frigid sidewalks outside City Hall, waiting to file through the rotunda where his body lay in state. The lines contained blacks, whites, Hispanics, friends, foes, the entire spectrum of Chicago's population.

During his time as mayor, Washington had chipped away at the Democratic machine's patronage system by appointing professionals, minorities and women to city positions. He had worked for economic development in neighborhoods rather than just downtown. But the bulk of his time had been spent fighting his opponents in the City Council.

The days following Washington's death were as raucous as the days of "Council Wars," culminating in a marathon City Council session to name a new mayor. Finally, in the early-morning hours, the white aldermanic bloc chose Eugene Sawyer, a black alderman from the South Side, to take over as mayor until a special election could be held in 1989.